A Teacher's Beginning
by CNJ
Summary: 24-year-old Mary Anne has her Master's degree in teaching & is ready to take on the challenge of her first teaching job. She has a rocky start & must struggle to gain the respect of her students. Controversial & sexual content appear.
1. Prologue

Yep, another story on my fave, Mary Anne. In this one, she's just graduated  
from graduate school, having gotten her Master's degree in secondary  
education with a minor in psychology. She takes her first full-time  
teaching job at the age of twenty-four while at the same time coping with  
changes in her own and her friends lives...two of her friends get married  
and her first year of teaching is a challenge to say the least. A few  
controversial issues and scenes appear here, so homophobes and conservative  
right-wingers, be warned. The usual disclaimers that Mona Vaughn is a  
creation of Betsy Haynes, not this author and the BSC characters that BSC  
fans recognize are not the current author's either, but the sole creation  
of Ann Martin. Oh, and thanks to one alert reviewer who pointed this  
out...I've added a little to clear up the confusion as to who Claudia and  
Kristy wind up marrying.  
  
  
MARY ANNE:  
  
It was finally drawing to a close. I'd seen it coming bit by bit as I  
worked my way through graduate school and moved into student teaching. But  
now, having completed this Master's degree, my school days had drawn to a  
close. At least my school days as a student had. Come fall it would be time  
to head to school this time as a teacher. There were few openings for a  
high school teaching position in this area of New York City this coming  
fall, so I settled for taking one at a middle school, to teach eighth-grade  
English at PS 127. It would do for a few years until the high school field  
opened up again.  
  
"So, congratulations, Mary Anne," the head of Staten U., Ms. Alvarez, told  
me as she handed me the certificate. Sure enough, it had me listed as  
valedictorian of the graduate class of 2008.  
  
"Oh...thank...you," I gasped, my heart swelling at her smile. As I stood,  
she reached over tentatively. I leaned toward her to receive her hug, then  
hugged her in return.  
  
"Go get 'em, tiger," she told me. I laughed a little, then nodded. Tiger.  
Me. Come to think of it, I guess I did battle a lot of things over the  
years.  
  
Then slowly I left, my thoughts blowing like the blossoms on the trees in  
Central Park. Valedictorian. Me. Wow. I remembered how back in high school,  
Stacey McGill, one of my best friends, had graduated valedictorian of her  
class.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"So, congats, Mary Anne!" Mona squealed as she sat on a bean sack after  
hugging me. "Way to go; wait until we tell our other friends this!"  
  
"Thanks," I sat on a pillow and sipped my fruit punch. Late May and already  
it was hot and humid. Good thing this house has air-conditioning or we'd  
keel over from heat stroke in the summer.  
  
"Soo, heard anything from the vet's office in Hudson Ridge?" I asked.  
Hudson Ridge is a suburb of the Big Apple about a half hour from here.  
  
"I have another interview next week," Mona told me.  
  
"Good luck at it," I leaned back. Tears came to my eyes as I thought of all  
the changes we were heading for once again. So many things in this life  
still bring tears to my eyes. Stacey had also finished her Master's degree  
last week and had a part-time position as an industrial engineer. Next  
year, she'd be going for her doctorate. Kristy Thomas and Claudia Kishi  
both had businesses going and were getting married this summer. Abby is in  
training for pro sports and with a group of other female athletes, is  
forming an all-women's team. Anna just got into a soft rock band and is  
recording music for an album. My stepsister Dawn Schafer is doing well as  
an archeologist. I looked around, thinking that this was probably our last  
summer in this house...Mona, our roommates Greta and Wyser, who rented  
this house with us for the past four years, and me. Greta and Wyser along  
with Mona and me completed our graduate degrees and were ready for  
full-time careers. They'd both gotten jobs in upstate New York, Greta as a  
dentist and Wyser as a physical therapist.  
  
"I do hope New York legalizes Greta and Wyser's union soon," I said out  
loud.  
  
"Me too," Mona added. "It's medieval that some people still pretend that  
gays don't exist." Mona is gay also, so she understands Greta and Wyser's  
position even better than any of the rest of us original BSC, better known  
as our Baby-Sitters' Club. That's how my group of friends and I  
started...most of us grew up in a large town in Connecticut, Stoneybrook  
and formed a club to baby-sit for parents there. It became like a  
mini-business throughout high school, then once we graduated, we'd passed  
the club on to our former charges. "So many changes..." Mona said softly.  
"Can't believe Claud and Kristy are getting *married* this summer." Kristy  
is marrying Carl Bineware, who's she's been dating for over two years and  
living with for a year. Claudia getting married to Tom Lisner, who she  
met in her last year of college at Granite U. in Minnesota.  
  
"It'll be so strange with us living apart," I added, feeling my stomach  
tighten. "We've lived together since...we started college...seven years."  
  
"Hard to believe..." Mona nodded.  
  
"Just how the shit am I going to live next year without you all?" I laughed  
weakly. "After all we went though these years...the nine-one-one  
disaster...Kristy's roommate's death...me going through three  
breakups...both of us losing our virginity at nineteen...me winding up with  
gonorrhea at twenty-one...all the theses in grad school...getting this  
house together..."  
  
"That's what I've wondered myself," Mona said with a shaky laugh. "We'll  
stay close...after all, we did when all of us original BSC graduated from  
high school and went off to different colleges. Oh, hey, Mary Anne, is that  
gonorrhea gone completely? Was the penicillin effective?"  
  
"Yes, it was," I closed my eyes. "The fever was gone in a few days, but I  
itched for a year after I got infected." Gonorrhea is no fun to have, so I  
wouldn't recommend a dose of the clap to anyone, especially through one  
night of stupid unprotected sex. Until a few months ago, I still felt the  
effects of the clap. The acute infection lasted only a few months, but for  
a couple of years, my body had to get back to normal since I still had  
occasional vaginal dryness, inflammation, and thick discharge. I'm so glad  
it's just about over now.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The graduation ceremony was a kind of bittersweet experience. The day was a  
pleasant warm for a change instead of sticky and humid, but I still felt a  
bit of sadness as I thought of this era in our lives ending and the start  
of something completely new. My voice shook a little as I gave my speech  
and as I finished, tears spilled down my face once I focused on my friends  
and parents and grandmother in the audience. Once the ceremony ended,  
everyone whooped, then us college grads stood and tossed our caps into the  
air. I smiled as I watched my cap bump into Mona's and hurtle sidelong into  
a tree. Mona and I both laughed, then hugged.  
  
"I think you're popular tonight," Mona joked, pointing toward several  
people who were headed toward me. Yep, they did come to congratulate me.  
Ms. Alvarez came up.  
  
"You were wonderful, sweetie," she told me. "You were nervous?"  
  
"Yeah, I usually am," I tried to smile. "To tell you the truth, I'm nervous  
about next year and all...being the one in charge of a class and all..."  
  
"You'll make it," Ms. Alvarez told me. "You've been through a lot in life  
and every time, you've pulled through like a trooper. We're all proud of  
you and with your wit, courage, and determination, you're going to not only  
make it in life, but go far places in your life..." Her words carried over  
and soothed me as I headed to my friends, Dad, Sharon, and Grandma.  
  
  
  
More later! Hope you enjoy this prologue! Meanwhile, I'll be adding more to  
my other stories soon; I haven't forgotten them! 


	2. 1

It's September 2008 and Mary Anne's first day as a full-fledged teacher.  
Enjoy!  
  
  
MARY ANNE:  
  
I slowly sat at my desk that warm September morning on my first day as a  
full-fledged teacher. I'd be teaching eighth-grade English at PS 127. I  
felt a little odd sitting at that huge desk by myself since it was still  
early, so I leafed through the teacher's handbook. I also was nervous. As  
I read, I became vaguely aware that the din in the halls grew louder and  
knew the students had arrived. I went over and opened the door to the  
classroom. My classroom. Wow. As I peered into the hall and saw the  
sixth, seventh, and eighth-graders milling around, picking up locker and  
homeroom assignments, I thought about Stoneybrook Middle School back in the  
old town and wondered how the kids there were faring since it was their  
first day back too. Thinking of Stoneybrook Middle reminded me of my  
friends and I smiled softly as I went back to my desk, remembering the two  
wonderful weddings...Kristy and Carl's, then Claudia and Tom's. It was  
just a few weeks ago that I also moved into my apartment and there were  
still some things that needed unpacking. Just then the first bell rang and  
kids started to trickle in, jabbering about the summer and friends,  
crushes, and other typical middle-school conversations. I wrote *Ms. Mary  
Anne Spier* on the board. Five minutes later, the second bell rang and the  
rest of the kids came pouring in with a noisy rush and scrambled to find  
seats. I smiled softly at them and closed the door. I waited a few  
minutes to let the talking naturally die down. I counted on their  
curiosity about a new teacher and sure enough, they quieted down a minute  
later as curiosity got the better of them since to them, I was a new  
teacher in their school. I hoped my nervousness didn't show.  
  
"Good morning, class," I introduced myself after clearing my throat. "I'm  
Mary...Ms. Spier and I'm your homeroom teacher for this year. I'm glad to  
have each of you as my students."  
  
"G' moring..." H'llo..." Hiii..." "Mornun..." were some of the greetings.  
  
"As a way of taking attendance this morning, why don't each of you go  
around and say your name and tell us a little something about yourself..."  
I pointed to a girl in the first row. Homeroom went smoothly for the most  
part with no major disasters. If you count dropping a pile of chalk on the  
floor minor. Once the bell rang, I thought, made it through one stage.  
Next would be the English classes. The next few periods, I introduced  
myself, then would have the students give their names and something that  
interested them. Then the second half of each period, I would tell the  
students in summary what we'd be covering during the year. I realized that  
I'd have rushes of nervousness and clear my throat often. I tried to  
control that, since I knew I sounded nervous. Some of the classes were a  
bit rowdier than others, but they settled down enough for me to get  
attendance and to talk. By the time lunch arrived, I was hungry, so I  
headed straight to the lounge. Two other teachers were there and they  
waved my over.  
  
"How did you survive your first morning as a teacher?" Min Lerez asked as I  
dug out my container of meatballs and put it into the microwave to heat up.  
  
"All right," I told them as I sat. As we talked, I found out that Carol  
Quynin had been here for five years and Min had been here for two.  
  
"I was nervous when I first started too," Min told me. She was a few years  
older than me and this was also her first teaching job. "The first day I  
was here, one of my students put a fake huge spider in my desk and I  
screamed so loudly I scared the class, then a lot of kids cracked up and I  
was so mortified." Min took a sip of her soup.  
  
"Oh, God," I dug into my meatballs. Carol grinned as she finished up her  
salad, then headed back.  
  
"Good luck," she called as she was leaving. Min and I ate and talked a  
while more, than we had to head back to our afternoon classes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
I had just finished having the students introduce themselves when a boy,  
Barry Ackle asked if he could use the bathroom. I nodded and waved him on,  
so he went. I then started on what our program would be for the year. I  
was handing out the outline when someone screamed. I turned to see Barry  
stumble back into the room, blood running down the side of his face. I  
stifled a scream myself.  
  
"Oh, God!" I went over to him and I could hear students gasping and  
murmuring behind me.  
  
"Was he shot?" "Oh, shit..." "Where's the blood from?"  
  
As I went over to try to find out from where he was bleeding, a little tube  
fell from his shirt onto the floor and I looked down and realized that it  
was *fake* blood. Some of the kids saw it and started to laugh. I let out  
my breath in relief. Barry was grinning.  
  
"Gotcha," he told me. I was shaking and a feeling of mortification at  
being so duped came over me.  
  
"Barry, go wash yourself off, then sit." I told him. He did, snickering  
and rolling his eyes at me. Kids continued to laugh. I headed back to the  
front and held up a hand for silence. To my embarrassment, my hand was  
still shaking and to make matters worse, I swallowed involuntarily. Kids  
continued to laugh and chatter on about the prank. I stood a minute, at a  
loss of what to do.  
  
"Class. Quiet now." I finally blurted out in a firm voice. That got their  
attention and to my surprise, they quieted down to a few whispers. Barry  
came back into class, gave me a smirk, then sat. I then continued with  
going over what we'd study this year. At least my voice wasn't shaky.  
Finally, the last bell rang and the kids booked out with a noisy jabber. I  
let out my breath and slowly sat. I saw a girl lingering near my desk.  
Sherry...Eikerson was her name, I think.  
  
"Hey, Ms. Spier..." She stopped at my desk. "You did great. You handled  
that prank well. Barry does at least one number on a teacher every first  
day."  
  
"Thanks." I was touched by her concern. So touched that after she left, I  
closed the door to my classroom, sat at the desk and cried softly. As I  
headed home later, I thought over the day and realized that it had been a  
mix of bad and good. Despite my nervousness and some of the rowdier kids,  
I found myself looking forward to going back to work tomorrow.  
  
  
More later! 


End file.
